


The Spymaster

by Sidnika



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:01:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25290568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sidnika/pseuds/Sidnika
Summary: Leliana notices that several men are interested in the Inquisitor. She decides to nudge the inquisitor to choose before someone gets hurt. Rated mature for some romance in later chapters.
Relationships: Female Inquisitor/Cullen Rutherford
Kudos: 30





	1. A Helping Hand

**Author's Note:**

> Just some fluff that came to me while playing the game. Please leave a comment if you enjoyed it!

Leliana hid a smile behind her hand as she looked at them across the war table. Having been a bard for many years, she had learned to notice the small things in people’s behavior. Things that other people wouldn’t pay any attention to. Because of this, it was clear to her what was going on in the inner circle of the inquisition, even before the people involved knew it themselves. As the spymaster, she knew the movements of the people within Skyhold and could notice the patterns before anyone else did. And some people seemed to be taking overly long routes to where they needed to go just to get a glimpse of someone else.

Leliana watched as commander Cullen stole glances at the inquisitor’s face every few seconds when he thought no one was looking. She saw him smiling at the inquisitor every time she looked his way, which was quite often, come to think of it.

Leliana shook her head slightly in amusement as the meeting drew to a close. She had been watching this development for quite some time, and yet she doubted they knew what it was leading towards themselves. She doubted that the inquisitor had even realized that Cullen was vying for her attention every chance he got. She thought that Cullen, at the very least, must know why he was behaving like this. Although he probably thought he was too stealthy in his affection for anyone to notice. Leliana’s smile widened at the thought. She loved holding all the cards.

Cullen wasn’t the only one who seemed mesmerized by the inquisitor, though. Blackwall seemed to have trouble redirecting his gaze whenever they were together as well. And the Iron Bull made no attempt to conceal that his eyes were ranging appreciatively over the inquisitor’s backside every time he walked behind her. And he always walked behind her.

Leliana was wondering if maybe she should intervene before this became a problem between the four of them. The Iron Bull was posing no problem, as far as she was concerned. He was straightforward with what he wanted and wouldn’t hold a grudge if the inquisitor ended up with someone else. Blackwall and Cullen were cut from different cloths, though. Both of them showed enough interest in her for jealousy to become a problem once they realized that they had a rival. Whenever the inquisitor entered a room, they both became too absorbed with her to pay any attention to the world, or the people, around them. They couldn’t see that another person was also vying for the inquisitor’s affection.

The meeting ended and Leliana started making her way back up to the tower where she spent most of her days and nights. The thought of intervening a little, to avoid uncomfortable conversations and hurt feelings, was looking more and more tempting. Just a little _nudge_ in the right direction. As much as she wanted to believe that it was all for a noble cause, the thought of a small game without the players’ knowledge appealed to her more than it should have. Even if she didn’t want to admit it, she had always loved games.

Leliana smiled as she walked out onto the small balcony in the tower. _This will be interesting_.


	2. A Plan in Motion

The first thing Leliana needed to decide was who she would nudge the inquisitor towards. She didn’t want to force anything; it was the inquisitor who needed to choose. Leliana only wanted to _encourage_ a decision to be made. The more she thought about it, the more she hoped the inquisitor would choose Cullen. Blackwall was with the inquisitor on most of her missions and having your lover with you in dangerous situations where the success of the mission was paramount could be a problem. And Blackwall had something slightly dark about him. Leliana wasn’t sure what it was but she had a feeling he had a dark past. It wouldn’t be exactly surprising, considering that he was a warden. If that was something that would someday come back to haunt him remained to be seen. Either way, Cullen seemed like the safer choice.

Leliana also thought that the inquisitor seemed more interested in Cullen than Blackwall. She thought she had noticed that the inquisitor directed most of her smiles towards the former templar. Or maybe that was because Cullen kept smiling at her like a lovesick puppy every time she looked at him. Leliana smirked at the thought. Leliana was quite sure that the inquisitor didn’t have any feelings like that for the Iron Bull, however. In fact, she had overheard the last sentences of a conversation that sounded a lot like the inquisitor told him that she wasn’t interested in him that way. Not that Bull seemed to care about that, he kept watching her openly anyway. 

She thought about doing something very simple and arrange for the inquisitor to be shut in a room with Blackwall and Cullen, one of them at a time, and see what came of it. That could potentially just make it worse though, if the inquisitor encouraged them both. Since the inquisitor had failed to notice that three men were ogling her whenever they could, Leliana decided that she must be a bit dense when it came to romances. As a result, the inquisitor could accidentally encourage both men to continue their clumsy advances without meaning to. Leliana wouldn’t be surprised if that happened. She shook her head slightly at the idea. She needed to find out more about what the inquisitor wanted first. And she knew just who to ask.

Leliana got up from the chair she’d been sitting on and made her way downstairs to find Josephine, who was sitting at her desk and working as usual. Leliana leaned in and put both her hands on the desk and looked closely at Josephine while asking the question.

“Say, Josie, has the inquisitor confided in you if there is someone in her current company that she finds… particularly interesting?”.

Josephine immediately started giggling and Leliana smirked and took her hands off the desk. So there _was_ someone.

“Thank you, Josie, that was all I needed to know”. Leliana smiled as she walked away, hearing Josephine call out to her back as she closed the door behind her.

“I didn’t tell you anything!”.

The only thing that remained now was to keep an eye on the inquisitor whenever she was with any of the men to figure out which one she liked the most. That was easily arranged by inviting everyone to the tavern for drinks later that night. She made sure the inquisitor would show up by saying how it would be good for morale, and made sure Blackwall and Cullen were showing up by telling them that the inquisitor would be there. Piece of cake. The rest of the team could show up if they wanted to but there was no need to go out of her way to convince them.

By nightfall, Leliana made her way to the tavern, where Cullen, Blackwall, Iron Bull, the chargers, Cassandra and Varric were already gathered. Leliana sat down opposite Cullen and Blackwall, who conveniently enough had chosen seats next to each other. The inquisitor arrived shortly afterward and Leliana made sure to move out of the way and offer her the spot she had been sitting in. She then offered to get drinks for everyone. It was almost a little too easy.

All Leliana had to do now was sit back and observe. With both men in front of the inquisitor, it didn’t take long for her to see who the inquisitor favored. She was engaging in conversation with both of them, but one man received more of her attention than the other, and she seemed unable to take her eyes off him whenever he spoke. That man was Cullen. Leliana tilted her head and watched Cullen when he was telling a story about a templar recruit. She could understand why he had caught the inquisitor’s interest. He was very handsome but had a bit of darkness to him, and his eyes showed that he had gone through a lot in his years. He was the sort of man you immediately knew you could trust.

The conversations continued and Leliana made sure more wine was brought in when they were running low. With a little bit of luck, this problem would solve itself as the night wore on. She had a hard time understanding how no one else seemed to see what was going on between the two of them, since it was quite obvious to her. Only Varric seemed to have noticed. She could see him smirking and looking over at the pair of them several times during the evening.

Leliana could see the inquisitor’s eyes lingering at the scar above Cullen’s upper lip.

Just as she had started thinking that it would be a good idea to get the two of them alone somewhere, the whole thing was interrupted by a bucket of cold water being emptied on everyone around the table from far above. She quickly looked up at the ledge above them and couldn’t see anyone, but she could hear Sera’s cackling laugh as she ran away.

Leliana groaned and closed her eyes in disappointment for a moment. Everyone had jumped up, exclaiming angrily at the unpleasant surprise, and the magic of the moment was gone. _Thanks, Sera._


	3. A Dangerous Game

Leliana thought things would move along more smoothly between the inquisitor and the commander now that they had spent some leisure time together. That didn't seem to be the case, however, since they were still just stealing glances at each other at the war meeting five days later. Leliana had asked some of her people to keep an eye on the two of them, but all reported that Cullen and the inquisitor hadn’t seen each other since the night in the tavern. When they walked out of the meeting, Leliana saw Blackwall in the keep entrance and talking to Varric. Blackwall did not seem to understand that he was out of the race, if the way he was eyeing the inquisitor was any indication. Neither the inquisitor nor Cullen noticed his gaze. Leliana sighed. She couldn’t believe the amount of help these people needed to fix their love life.

In the end, she decided on something simple to solve this problem: jealousy. She decided to give them a small push and use someone other than Blackwall to be the rival.

Leliana went back to the tower and wrote a message to one of her people, Stanford, who was stationed in Crestwood but was currently heading to Skyhold to deliver some goods. He was to come to see her at once when he arrived and talk to no one else. She hoped it would reach him before he arrived at Skyhold. Just like Leliana, Stanford was a former bard and a very good actor. He was from a minor noble family in Ferelden and quite handsome. He would do well in this little game. The key was to keep it all a secret, so neither the inquisitor nor the commander ever knew that it was a setup. Leliana called a messenger and told him where to go and who to find, and he set off at once. Now she could only wait.

It took two days until Stanford turned up at the keep. He went straight to see her without talking to anyone else, and she thought it very unlikely that anyone had noticed him with so many people were moving around Skyhold. Now they needed to transform him to look the part of a noble’s son.

He was to become the young Arl Edvin Winstone, who had taken over his father’s arling recently when his father died in the explosion at the conclave. The inquisitor would be introduced to him and he would turn on the charm for her. Leliana would make sure that Cullen was there for the show. From having worked with Stanford previously, she knew he would enjoy a role like that and excel at it.

When Stanford was looking the part, Leliana was left with the task of figuring out how best to put the plan in motion. She had to involve Josephine, because the ambassador knew every noble who came to see the inquisitor and it would be very suspicious if she didn’t this time. She might also have met the real Arl Edvin Winstone, and it would be very awkward if she ruined the disguise.

When Leliana told Josephine the plan, she giggled and agreed to help. Josephine loved gossip and games, and she couldn’t wait to be part of this scheme. Especially when it involved romance and two people she liked.

Josephine introduced Arl Edvin Winstone to the inquisitor outside the war room the next day after their daily meeting. It was the easiest way to make sure that Cullen was there to watch. Stanford was an excellent actor and played his part very well. He kissed the inquisitor’s hand and lingered a long time on the kiss and continued to hold her hand for quite some time before letting it go. Leliana was watching Cullen out of the corner of her eyes and saw him balling his fists as the noble stroked the inquisitor’s hand before letting it go. The inquisitor seemed quite intrigued by the stranger.

Arl Edvin invited the inquisitor for a walk in the gardens and, just like Leliana had hoped, Cullen made an excuse to go off in the same direction. She followed him and saw him walking a distance away from the inquisitor and the Arl, who had their arms interlocked as he escorted her around the blossoming garden. Cullen watched them through narrowed eyes and looked more agitated than normal as he skulked in the shadows.

The Arl stopped in the middle of the garden to reach for the inquisitor’s hair to pluck out a small twig that had nestled itself in there. When he had taken it out, he reached out again to touch her hair and let his hand travel down to her neck before again locking arms with her. Leliana thought it was a nice touch, even though she assumed that it was Stanford who had placed the twig there in the first place. Cullen looked positively furious as he watched them. His eyes had gone dark and his hand had moved to rest on the hilt of his sword. Leliana decided it was time to end this before Cullen lost his temper completely.

“Commander”. She walked up to him in a relaxed sort of way and smiled. “Josephine would like us to meet her back by the war room to discuss one final point before sending out the messengers”.

Cullen grunted as a sign that he had heard. He shot one last dark look at the inquisitor and the nobleman before heading inside towards the war room. Leliana then went to the inquisitor and the Arl.

“Sorry to disturb you, inquisitor. Josephine wanted us to meet back in the war room to discuss one final point before sending the messengers out”.

Leliana nodded to the Arl with a small smile as he released the inquisitor’s arm, bowed deep to both of them, and strode off towards the other end of the garden. Leliana motioned the inquisitor to come with her and together they walked back towards the war room, where Cullen was waiting.


	4. The Finale

Cullen was already in the war room when Leliana and the inquisitor arrived.

He was pacing back and forth inside the room with a dark expression on his handsome face. He stopped for one second when he saw them approach and looked up at the inquisitor with a hurt look in his eyes before he averted his gaze and continued pacing. He looked miserable and furious at the same time. Leliana almost felt sorry for him.

The inquisitor stepped inside the room and Leliana stopped at the door. She told them that she was going to fetch Josephine and Cassandra, but she doubted that they heard her. She inquisitor was looking at Cullen with a curious expression on her face, and Cullen seemed completely lost in thought. Leliana closed the door behind her but unlatched the small metal hatch on the door and left it slightly ajar so she could hear what went on inside. She could hear how they started talking the moment she left but couldn’t tell what they said. That wasn’t the point anyway. She only needed to hear their tone of voice to know how things were progressing.

Cullen’s voice was raised at the beginning and he sounded angry, but his voice calmed down after the inquisitor replied to whatever he had said. She could hear them conversing in a normal tone of voice for quite some time. After a while she could note a change. Their voices sounded softer and quieter, as if they had moved closer together.

Josephine stepped into the room behind Leliana and she made a motion with her hand to show the ambassador to be quiet and come closer to the door. Josephine snuck up next to her and put her ear to the door so she could hear what was going on as well. The voices had turned so low that they could hardly hear them talking, and they were soon switched out for other noises. Josephine had to clap her hands over her mouth to stop herself from making a happy exclamation when they heard their friends kissing through the door. Leliana smiled.

Both of them were caught off guard, however, by the sound of the door behind them opening and more pairs of feet walking in. Leliana turned around in alarm as Cassandra, Varric, Blackwall, and Iron Bull walked in, obviously heading for the war table. Leliana shut close the hatch in the door as quietly as she could and tried to come up with an explanation as to why they were standing by the door.

“What are the two of you doing?” Cassandra sounded both curious and suspicious. Leliana guessed that they looked pretty guilty standing there, her with one hand on the hatch.

Varric’s eyes followed the stretch of her arm to the hatch and a grin spread on his face.

“Spying on someone in the war room, are we?”.

Leliana knew that there was no way to get out of this now. She shrugged her and told them the truth, keeping a close eye on Blackwall as she said it.

“We heard some sounds coming from the war room. The inquisitor and the commander are in there. They didn’t look like they wanted to be disturbed”.

Josephine giggled and Leliana smiled as she could see comprehension dawn on all their faces in turn, some more slowly than others. Blackwall frowned but didn’t say anything. The Iron Bull let out a bark of laughter and walked forwards towards the door.

“Let’s see it then!”.

He easily moved Leliana’s hand out of the way and slowly and quietly opened the hatch to peek in. His big face filled up the entire hatch and Leliana couldn’t see anything even though she was standing right next to him. Although she couldn’t see what was going on, the wet sounds of kissing and the ragged breaths told her exactly what was happening in there between the commander and the inquisitor. Cassandra and Josephine immediately started a silent struggle to move Bull out of the way so they could see what was going on too. Varric didn’t bother joining them since he wasn’t tall enough to be able to see through the hatch anyway.

The sounds of kissing were getting louder and more urgent. They could hear them moving around more in there, maybe searching for a more comfortable spot. Their breaths sounded ragged and loud in the otherwise quiet room. When Leliana heard the sound of the markers on the war table clattering to the floor, she knew it was time to interrupt this. Some things should be done in private and she knew that neither the inquisitor nor the commander would appreciate them watching if this progressed to something more than kissing.

She wrenched the door open and almost hit Bull in the face with it in the process. The inquisitor and Cullen jumped apart as if burned. The inquisitor almost fell over as she struggled to get off the war table as quickly as she possibly could. They both looked very guilty and stared mortified at the group of people in the doorway. Their eyes were wide and they kept opening and closing their mouths like fish on dry land, trying to come up with some sort of explanation. Their lips were red and swollen and Cullen was moving his coat a bit to cover himself below the waist, probably hiding an impressive bulge in his pants. The inquisitor’s hair was ruffled, and several strands of hair had been detached from the ponytail and were hanging loose around her face. There were markers from the war table strewn over the floor at the inquisitor’s feet and the maps on the table looked crumpled.

“Don’t stop on our account!” The Iron Bull seemed to be enjoying this most of all and was laughing loudly and clapping his hands, giving them a standing ovation.

Josephine started giggling and Leliana couldn’t help but join in. In a few seconds, all of them, even Blackwall, were laughing and the Iron Bull was catcalling as they watched the embarrassed couple trying to straighten out their clothes. The inquisitor quickly moved to tuck the loose strands of hair behind her ears to make herself more presentable.

Leliana shook her head in amusement at the situation. This wasn’t exactly the way she had planned for it to turn out, but the result was what mattered. The inquisitor getting it on with the commander of the inquisition. Now that was a topic that ought to get people talking all the way from the Rivain to the Anderfels. Leliana smiled at her handiwork and signaled for the others to come with her.

“Come on, all of you. We should leave these two to each other’s company. I’m sure they have lots of _catching up_ to do”. She winked at them as she said the last part and was rewarded by both the commander and the inquisitor blushing. Varric, Blackwall, and the Iron Bull all chuckled as they walked out of the room. Josephine was still giggling and Cassandra looked torn between disapproving and being happy for their friends.

Varric immediately hurried over to Josephine’s desk to get a pen, some ink and paper to start writing the story. Leliana knew it was going to be a bestseller. 


End file.
